


A Charmed Back Off

by HarryMacy2020



Category: Charmed (TV 2018)
Genre: Christmas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:41:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28311780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HarryMacy2020/pseuds/HarryMacy2020
Summary: Harry puts all the Charmed in a GBBO baking contest using his simulation crystal as a holiday team building exercise.
Relationships: Harry Greenwood & Charmed Ones, Harry Greenwood & Macy Vaughn & Maggie Vera & Mel Vera, Harry Greenwood & Maggie Vera, Harry Greenwood & Mel Vera, Macy Vaughn & Maggie Vera, Macy Vaughn & Mel Vera
Comments: 6
Kudos: 8
Collections: CW Charmed Secret Santa 2020 Event





	A Charmed Back Off

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MelanijaParadis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelanijaParadis/gifts).



> This is my contribution to Charmed Secret Santa 2020.
> 
> Merry Christmas and Happy new Year

Christmas was coming, but the atmosphere in the Vera/Vaughn house was not so festive as it used to be on this period of the year.

Indeed, during the last three days, due to the influence of the planets which didn’t get along so well and brought heavier and more challenging vibes, the sisters ended arguing a lot with damaging consequences for their sisterhood bond.  
Indeed, all this discord between the sisters amplified the dark feels and affected badly the use of the power of three. It also prevented the sisters to celebrate properly the festivities.

Harry was worried about that. Fortunately, the planets position was about to change and that meant the time was come to do something in order to fix the unpleasant situation which was created among the sisters. 

Therefore, Harry needed urgently a way of giving a boost to the sisters in order to help them to recover the Christmas spirit and rebuild their team work. After careful consideration, Harry came up with the right idea. 

He would have used the simulation crystal in order to force Macy, Maggie and Mel to spend some time together as sisters as well as to work as a team, while doing something that he knew they would like and it could also be fun.

“I know that those last days has been a bit ... challenging.” Harry carefully pronounced this last word in order to observe the sisters’ reactions and avoid causing an emotional breakdown.

“Challenging? I would say Crazy as hell!” Maggie pointed out and pulled a face as if he was underestimating it. 

“I couldn’t agree more. I didn’t know that some conjunction could have such an impact on our humor as well as on our powers. Even if Astrology has been rejected by the scientific community and there is no evidence to support their theories; I would say that I may reconsider my previous conviction.” Macy added.

“We are witches, Macy.” Maggie smirked. “I think that Astrology should be one of the most normal things to believe in those days.” she jiggled.

Macy raised her eyebrow and made a pensive grimace. Then she tilted back and forward her head as if she was balancing Maggie’s words and she finally nodded in agreement. 

“Well. Harry. Why are we here? Do you want to organize a group therapy session?” Mel grumbled, clearly annoyed with her arms folded around her chest. She was the one who was more affected by the planet influence, especially after her fight with Maggie.

As her sisters, Macy had difficulty to control her reactions during those last three days as well. All that made her more sensitive about some topics as well as uncomfortable with her own impulses. Because of that, Macy instinctively intervened. 

“Mel. Please. Mind your manners.” She growled before she could stop herself and then she reprimanded Mel with a look which she intentionally faked to ignore, shrugging her shoulders. 

Macy cleared her throat, still bothered by the way Mel talked to Harry. Afterwards, she turned towards Harry and smiled sweetly at him as if she wanted to assure him that he had her support. Harry narrowed his eyes as a puppy dog and he responded at her with a reassuring smile. His sweet attitude immediately had a calming effect on her and made her eyes twinkled. Before speaking again, she breathed deeply and focused on staying calm. She knew the particularity of the situation.

“Excuse my manner as well.” She apologized and Mel did the same, knowing she was wrong to throw her planetary uneasiness on Harry.

“Please. Harry. Go on. Tell us why do you call us here in the attic. Do you need our help for something?“ Macy rephrased softly as the tension chilled down. 

Harry looked very pleased and grinned at all the sisters.

“I think it is time for a team building activity along with something fun and christmassy” He gloated.

“What do you mean?” Maggie asked suspiciously. 

“Today, I have organized something special for you three. Good luck.” Harry said.

In a flash, the sisters found themselves into a tent for a good-natured competition of baked goodies.

All the sisters used to watch a TV show like the Great British Bake Off. Therefore, they recognized the place and they knew all the rules.

The judges were holograms of their favorite bakers and they really looked like in TV.

“OMG. They look so … professional and judgy. “ Maggie exclaimed enthusiastically. “Do you think we can talk to them and ask for some advices?” Maggie jumped happily, excited at the idea to be in front of her idols.

“Maggie. Do you know that there are not real, don’t you?” Mel remarked as if she talked to a little child, which offended Maggie who didn’t wait to reply acidly.

“I know that. But they could have their knowledge. It can be useful. But I forgot you have an opinion on everything. No matters what and if you don’t know anything about it.” Maggie threw back at Mel and she shown her annoyance. With a blow of her hair, she turned her back at Mel which got furious and ready to fight.

“What?” Mel answered angrily. “What have you said? If it is still for my comment on your picture which you wanted to post on Instagram, I have already told you I did it for your best. “

Mel turn to Macy for support. “What about you, Macy? Don’t you think that I was right to tell her the truth and prevent her for making a big mistake. This picture was awful and the post was so sexist.” 

“Listen. Please. Don’t put me in the middle again.” Macy begged and put her hands up in surrender. “I don’t want to fight with any of you. We have already discussed about this and I don’t want this to end the same way. You have different point of views. That is ok. As mum said to you both. You are better together. Your differences are your strength…”

“Nothing is stronger than our sisterhood. I know.” Mel huffed. “It is just that ...” Mel stopped noticing Macy’s glance at her which was a real warning that she didn’t want to go down this road again. 

“Ok. Sorry. I think I am still a bit under the planets influence.” Mel shrug her shoulders as if she was tired to discuss as well. “Do what you want, Maggie. Go there and ask them for some advice if that makes you happy.” Mel mumbled.

“Mel.” Macy puffed out and immediately glared at Mel. 

“Don’t worry, Macy.” Maggie intervened and put a hand on Macy’s arm. 

“This time …“ Maggie accentuated those two words and stared significantly at Mel. “… Mel is right. They are all holograms. They can’t be useful.” Then Maggie moved away and smiled at her sisters. “We are here to nurture our bond as mum used to say. This is because Harry sends us here.“ 

Mel nodded in agreement, mortified for her stinging observation and smiled at Maggie as if she really wanted to apologize again. It seemed that the memory of their mum did cool all them down.

“Ok. Let’s go to rebuild our team work ability.” Macy shouted enthusiastically and raised her fist, looking at her sisters who responded in agreement.

Concentrated on the game again, they went cautiously to the bakery station, where they found all the equipment.

By looking around they noticed three girls behind a counter not too far away from theirs. Those three women represented their adversaries as if they were the dark Charmed Ones. It was like looking at a mirror and that feeling troubled them a bit. After a moment, they rushed away those feeling and started focus on their workstation.

“Is this a Chef hut?” Maggie asked excited, noticing three white Chef huts on the table and three different aprons. 

One of them was an Adult Elf Apron. Maggie handed it to Mel who grabbed it with a smirk. 

Then, she took the one with a Gingerbread woman design and she passed it to Macy who immediately wore it.

At the end, Maggie chose the Apron with a funny fashion Christmas picture of a Snowwoman.

Then Maggie immediately immersed herself in the context, followed by Macy who loved to bake.

Mel was the most skeptical but her sister’s enthusiasm was so contagious that she surrendered to that.

After a moment, they rolled up their sleeves and started thinking about a strategy to impress the judges.

“What are we going to do?” Mel asked. “As much as I may love Christmas, I am not keen on baking. I suppose I just need to rely on you two and for once I will execute your orders.”

“What?” Maggie asked in surprise. “Have you really said that you will follow our orders” She joked. “That is really a Christmas miracle” Maggie jiggled.

“Ah. Ah. Ah. It is not that funny.” Mel replied sarcastically, making a face and pretending to be offended. 

Then, she peeped towards Maggie and she stuck her tongue out.

“Maybe in this context Ho Ho Ho should sound more appropriate.” Macy added, while bouncing around and imitating Santa Clause’ voice.

This clumsy interpretation shown to her sisters a new unknown aspect of Macy’s personality which they enjoyed. Especially, Maggie and Mel appreciated her efforts and they couldn’t resist bursting into laugh. Thanks to that, the atmosphere became immediately more relaxed.

“Let’s start with a list of delicious desserts. What do you think if we will start with a Christmas Fudge?” Macy suggested.

“Nothing says holiday spirit quite like Christmas Fudge.” Maggie intervened.

“What about the Bûche de Noël?” Macy also named.  
“It sounds so French and classy.” Maggie noted. “But what is it exactly?” 

“It is also called Yule Log Cake. This cake represents the yule log that families would burn starting on Christmas Eve.” Macy explained.

“It sounds ok to me.” Mel nodded in agreement. 

“We also need a Christmas Tree Cake. Maybe it may be a bit Retro style.” Maggie added.

“What?” Mel asked, narrowing her eyes at her. 

“We have to bake a cake in the shape of a Christmas Tree.” Macy began to explain without getting Mel irony.

“Really?” Mel ironized with a hint of sarcasm in her voice that Macy ignored. “Something called Retro Christmas Tree Cake looks like a Tree?”

Unfortunately, Mel punching comments didn’t pass unnoticed by Maggie who wasn’t pleased by that and felt the urge to stand up for her sister. Instead of toning down, it fired up the conflict again and the sisters restarted to argue.

“Please. Mel. If you have a better idea, feel free to share it with us. I just hope that it might be better than your ability to cook. Otherwise, we could already give up.“ Maggie snapped, crossing her arms around her chest.

Mel was about to reply when Macy interposed between them.

“Wow. We are already in the competition mood.” Macy tried to be ironical to play down the situation. “That is the spirit; but we need to remember that we are a team.”

After sharing a diffident look, both Maggie and Mel face agreed and relaxed. Then, they shared a smile as a signal of cooling down.

“I think it may be a “Whoa” Showstopper, with its retro light bulbs and frosted branches.” Maggie rejoiced and clapped her hands at the image of the cake in her mind.

“I think it could be fun. May I take care of this?” Mel conceded.

“Yes. Of course. The sponge cake base is simple to make. You just have to follow the recipe.” Macy remarked.

Mel raised an eyebrow questioningly, showing a display of offense. Before the situation might blow again; Macy immediately adjusted her affirmation by adding.” The difficult part is to arrange it into an absolutely stunning dessert-table centerpiece. I am sure you could do a great job and give it a magnificent effect with the appropriated decoration.”

“I may do a diagonal layer that cuts through the entire cake and add some colored cream.” Mel suggested.

“Yes. We can also add an outer covering top of green cream with playful piece of colored chocolate shaped as Christmas ball.” Maggie advanced in support at her sister’s idea. 

“That sounds great”. Macy agreed.

“I would love preparing some peppermint bark as well. Mum always did it during Christmas holiday.” Mel proposed, showing her cooperation.

“It is an ultimate holiday sweet treat.” Macy agreed. “We may make it in different forms.”

“We may create crockpot candy and cookies. What about a Santa’s Trash Cookies?” Maggie floated.

“Even Santa has a naughty side.” Mel joked.

After sharing their opinions, the Charmed Ones chose their list of desserts at which they added Peanut Butt snowballs, Holiday Rum Balls, Christmas Pinwheel Cookies and Christmas Light Gingerbread Cookies.

After selecting all the deserts, each sister had its own role in the kitchen.

For today, Macy was the Chief and did a to do list for everyone, underlining all the priorities. She was also in charge of all the baking operations. Mel was her executive and she assumed all the cleaning tasks. Maggie was in charge of the decorations. Her idea was to create a painting with all the desserts in order to recreate a Christmas scene. She would have used all the delicious selection of sweet and savoury baked goodies.

Concentrated and united as a team, they really enjoyed spending some time together in the kitchen. It was quite meditative for each of them when they did some repetitive tasks as gathering the ingredients or stirring. It was creative as they explored recipes and dishes, along with exchanging ideas about the decorations part. They also found it interesting because they all learned something news. 

Harry was right when he decided to suggest this activity in order to help them to reconnect with one another. 

During the preparation part, they could feel the joy of cooking together and they supported each other in order to bake some delectable dishes. They laughed a lot and found some time to make jokes to each other. 

This experience helped them to repair the rifts that had grown between them during those last three days and they became a united Trio again. Nothing could ruin the restored team spirit as well as the Christmas one, not even a little accident with the oven. 

“Have you checked on the cake for the Bûche de Noël? It is a thin cake and it bakes quick.” Macy demanded to Mel her sister.

“Yes. I am keeping an eye on it”. Mel replied and then rushed to the oven and opened the door to a warm waft of chocolate on her face. 

She took it away and checked that the cake was not dry with the risk it could crack as it rolled.   
She let cool the cake just for a few minutes and, while it was still warm, she inverted the baked cake onto a clean, dry kitchen towel and peeled off the parchment paper. She folded the scored end of the cake in toward the center and then gently continued rolling the cake, wrapped in the towel which should protect her hand during the process. Then she transferred it to a rack and let it cool completely in the towel. 

Macy observed for a moment Mel who seemed so concentrated and dedicated and she smiled proudly. 

Then, while the cake cooled, Macy made some rich homemade vanilla buttercream and a chocolate buttercream which should cover all the rolled cake.

Mel unrolled the cake and set aside the towel. Macy took a desired amount of the vanilla buttercream and spread it on the inside of the cake. Afterwards, she gently rolled it back into a log. She attentively cut off about 1/4 of one end of the cake roll on the diagonal and then she reattached it to the center of the cake with some buttercream to resemble a "branch" protruding from the Yule log.

Then, it was Maggie turn to work on the Bûche the Nöel. She spread the chocolate buttercream over the Bûche de Noël to cover it. She gently dragged a butter knife through the frosting to give the appearance of rough tree bark and added all the necessary details to decorate the cake and made it look realistic and wonderful.

“It looks amazing.” Macy complimented Maggie and Mel for the good results and they did the same for her cooking.

At the end, everything was ready for the judges; but for the sisters sake, Harry decided to put an end at the challenge before that. Looking at the Charmed Ones, he could say without doubts that the training was successfully completed.

Indeed, after a slowing start, a great moment of joy tucked into the experience of baking and it lasted, considering that the sisters downed happily the stairs into the kitchen to keep on baking … for real, this time.


End file.
